"For a week and a half we didn't know if he was going to keep his leg," Linda said.

He is one of at least two Terrebonne Parish natives to contract the infection in a month.

As of Aug. 27, nine people in the state have contracted the illness this year, said Kathleen Meyers, Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals spokeswoman. Five of the nine have occurred since June 28, she said.

Vibrio vulnificus is a rapidly developing infection and can happen over just 12 hours, said Dr. Mary Eschete, a board certified infectious diseases doctor with Terrebonne General Medical Center.

The bacteria occurs naturally in warm seawater, according to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. It releases toxins that cause blood pressure to fall and eats away at tissue around the wound site, which is why it is known as a flesh-eating bacteria. As much as 25 percent of people whose wounds become infected with vibrio vulnificus die from it.

That fast-paced and painful medical description aligns with her son's experience, Linda said.

Don went fishing the morning he got sick.

By noon he felt feverish and went to lie down, his mother said.

"When he woke up, he went to put his shrimp boot on," she said. "He couldn't get it on" because his foot was so swollen.

The captain went to dock, and Don went to the hospital.

"He didn't see any cuts or wounds, but that's the only way the stuff could have gotten in there," she said. "By the time they got him to the hospital, his foot was so swollen. It was ungodly."

Most cases result when the bacteria infects minor injuries, such as cuts or wounds. Children, the elderly or people with weakened immune systems have a greater risk of contracting serious infections or having complications, but it can happen to anyone, Eschete said. Many people associate the bacterial infection with eating raw oysters, Eschete said.

TGMC doctors quickly identified the bacteria and began treatment. Eschete said vibrio vulnificus is seen in hospitals across south Louisiana, so doctors are usually trained to spot the infection.

"They have to scrap the tissue," Linda said. "If they don't get it all it's just going to keep eating away."

<p>A month ago, Don Boudreaux spent his days cruising bayous and the Gulf netting pink Louisiana shrimp.</p><p>Now the 37-year-old Bayou Blue native spends most of his time in bed, his mother Linda Boudreaux said.</p><p>Boudreaux contracted the flesh-eating-bacteria vibrio vulnificus Aug. 12 while shrimping near Delcambre, she said.</p><p>"For a week and a half we didn't know if he was going to keep his leg," Linda said.</p><p>He is one of at least two Terrebonne Parish natives to contract the infection in a month. </p><p>As of Aug. 27, nine people in the state have contracted the illness this year, said Kathleen Meyers, Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals spokeswoman. Five of the nine have occurred since June 28, she said.</p><p>Vibrio vulnificus is a rapidly developing infection and can happen over just 12 hours, said Dr. Mary Eschete, a board certified infectious diseases doctor with Terrebonne General Medical Center. </p><p>The bacteria occurs naturally in warm seawater, according to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. It releases toxins that cause blood pressure to fall and eats away at tissue around the wound site, which is why it is known as a flesh-eating bacteria. As much as 25 percent of people whose wounds become infected with vibrio vulnificus die from it.</p><p>That fast-paced and painful medical description aligns with her son's experience, Linda said.</p><p>Don went fishing the morning he got sick.</p><p>By noon he felt feverish and went to lie down, his mother said.</p><p>"When he woke up, he went to put his shrimp boot on," she said. "He couldn't get it on" because his foot was so swollen.</p><p>The captain went to dock, and Don went to the hospital.</p><p>"He didn't see any cuts or wounds, but that's the only way the stuff could have gotten in there," she said. "By the time they got him to the hospital, his foot was so swollen. It was ungodly."</p><p>Most cases result when the bacteria infects minor injuries, such as cuts or wounds. Children, the elderly or people with weakened immune systems have a greater risk of contracting serious infections or having complications, but it can happen to anyone, Eschete said. Many people associate the bacterial infection with eating raw oysters, Eschete said.</p><p>TGMC doctors quickly identified the bacteria and began treatment. Eschete said vibrio vulnificus is seen in hospitals across south Louisiana, so doctors are usually trained to spot the infection.</p><p>"They have to scrap the tissue," Linda said. "If they don't get it all it's just going to keep eating away."</p><p>Four surgeries later, Don is at home and faces an extended recovery.</p><p>"It is very painful," Linda said. "It's bad. It's a pain you've never experienced."</p><p>Lois Domangue, 69-year-old grandmother from Chauvin, contracted the illness Aug. 16 while preparing crab stew.</p><p>She began to feel feverish hours after preparing the seafood, and her arm began to hurt just after supper, she said. Domangue ignored the pain and went to bed.</p><p>"It didn't bleed," she said. "It was just a slight scratch."</p><p>"When I got up that morning it was very swollen," Domangue said. "Big old blue and red and black and purple blisters," the size of half-dollars, started forming.</p><p>"I thought I had slept on my hand the wrong way," she said.</p><p>"I did my life on the bayou, my entire life," she said. "I dealt with crab and shrimp my entire life. ... You have to open your crab and clean it," she said. "I've done it a million times."</p><p>Earlier this year, a barnacle scrape on Grand Isle's jetties triggered an infection that nearly killed a Gonzales man.</p><p>Rick Garey, 56, was vacationing on the barrier island with his family when he apparently contracted vibrio vulnificus, officials said.</p><p>The infection set in quickly, and within 48 hours of sustaining the cut, doctors were considering amputating his foot.</p><p>While Garey was recovering last month, he said his brush with the deadly infection has made him want to raise awareness about vibrio vulnificus for other sportsmen and beach-goers in the state.</p><p>"Our water, something's not right with it, evidently," Domangue said.</p>